The health insurance contribution (składka zdrowotna) of an entrepreneur taxed under the tax scale, flat tax or lump-sum tax (ryczałt) is paid monthly, but its final amount is only known once the year is closed. That is why the annual settlement may show either an underpayment or an overpayment. The latter is the more pleasant situation, but it requires action — the money does not always come back on its own, nor always when you would like it to. It is worth knowing the rules now, because the settlement for 2026 will take place in spring 2027.
Where does an overpaid health contribution come from?
The mechanism is simple: monthly contributions are calculated on an ongoing basis, while the annual settlement looks at the whole year. Under the tax scale and the flat tax, the monthly contribution depends on the previous month's income. If the business earns high income at the beginning of the year and later incurs large costs, downtime or a loss, the total contributions paid may turn out to be higher than the contribution due on the annual income.
Under the lump-sum tax, the contribution depends on the threshold of revenue accumulated from the beginning of the year. An overpayment may arise, for example, when revenue has been adjusted — for instance through corrective invoices — and the annual revenue ultimately falls into a lower threshold than the one used to pay the contributions. An overpayment can also result from a simple mistake: a double transfer, a payment of the wrong amount, or paying a contribution for a month in which the business was suspended.
Annual settlement and the RZS-R application
The entrepreneur reports the annual settlement of the health contribution in the settlement document for April, filed by 20 May (when paying contributions only for themselves). If the settlement shows an amount to be refunded, the system of ZUS (the Polish Social Insurance Institution) automatically creates an application for a refund of the overpayment, designated RZS-R. It appears among the draft documents in the payer's profile on PUE/eZUS.
The automatic creation of the application is not enough. You have to open it, check the amount and the bank account number, sign it and send it. The deadline for submitting the application is 1 June. If the application was not created automatically, it can be prepared manually towards the end of the deadline by entering the amount resulting from the annual settlement. After the deadline, unsent applications disappear from the account and a new one can no longer be created manually. If the application is filed on time, ZUS transfers the refund to the indicated account — according to ZUS announcements no later than 1 August (in 2026, due to the weekend, by 3 August).
What happens if no application is filed
Missing the deadline does not mean losing the money, but it extends the waiting time and leaves the decision on what happens to it to ZUS. According to information provided by ZUS, an overpayment for which no refund was requested on time is settled on the payer's account by the end of the year. If the entrepreneur has arrears with ZUS, the overpayment will first cover those arrears — only the remaining amount is refundable.
It is therefore worth checking the payer's account balance before filing the application. Even small arrears, for example due to a late transfer and unpaid interest, can reduce the refund or delay its payment.
Refund of the overpayment and income tax
The overpayment also needs to be remembered when settling personal income tax (PIT). Under the flat tax, the health contribution paid can — within the statutory limit — be deducted from income or recognised as a cost, while under the lump-sum tax part of the contribution is deducted from revenue. If a contribution that was previously deducted comes back to the entrepreneur as a refund, the tax benefit of the deduction should not be kept: the refunded amount must be properly reflected in the tax settlement (by reducing the deduction or adding the refund to income or revenue). Under the tax scale the health contribution is not deducted, so this issue generally does not arise.
How to reflect it depends on the form of taxation and the year in which the refund was received, so this step is best agreed with your accountant before filing the tax return or calculating the advance payment.
How to prepare for the 2026 settlement
The last quarter of the year is a good time to check how income or revenue compares with the contributions paid. If it is already clear that the annual result will be noticeably lower than the income of the first months, an overpayment in the annual settlement is likely. In that case, verify the bank account number in the payer's data in advance, clear any arrears and put two dates in your calendar: 20 May for the annual settlement and 1 June for sending the RZS-R application.
It is also good practice to check the payer's account on eZUS regularly during the year. This makes it possible to spot incorrect or double payments quickly and clarify them straight away, instead of finding out about them at the annual settlement.